Allentonian Stabbed By Inmate On Furlough To Get $578 A Month

April 16, 1986|The Morning Call

A U.S. district judge has signed an order that makes public the settlement reached in a civil suit between Lehigh County and an Allentown woman who was stabbed in 1983 by a county prison inmate who was on a weekend furlough.

Elanda Hardmon will receive a monthly payment of $578.31, which is guaranteed for 20 years, said her attorney, Richard Orloski. The county will also pay Hardmon's legal expenses of $20,000.

Because Hardmon is on welfare, the county will pay the state Department of Welfare $2,000 dating back to the time of the stabbing. Finally, the settlement provides Hardmon's 6-year-old daughter, Sha-Tia, with $3,000 upon her 18th birthday.

The contents of the settlement were sealed in February at the request of the county and its insurance carrier USF&G. By signing the order yesterday, Judge Daniel H. Huyett 3rd permitted the settlement to be made public.

During the last week, attorneys for the county, USF&G and Hardmon all signed an agreement to unseal the settlement. "I had no objection to the settlement being made public," said county solicitor Lawrence Brenner. "That decision was made by the county's insurance carrier."

Joseph Leeson Jr., attorney for USF&G, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

When the sealed settlement was announced, The Morning Call requested that it be opened. The newspaper claimed taxpayers were entitled to the settlement information under the public right-to-know law.

"We're very pleased that the information can be released to the public . . . and that the parties have realized that the public has a right to know," said Malcolm Gross, the newspaper's attorney.

Hardmon suffered multiple stab wounds of the abdomen, chest and left arm when she was attacked by inmate Charles Callaway, who was on a weekend furlough.

She charged that county officials acted outrageously and wantonly when they released Callaway on furlough when he had a criminal record for "vicious anti-social behavior."

Callaway also fatally stabbed Willie Lee Meyers, a guest at the Hardmon home.

Callaway later pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in Meyers' death and to attempted criminal homicide in Hardmon's attack.

He was sentenced in December 1983 to 10 to 20 years in the murder and five to 10 years in jail in the assault, with the sentences to be served concurrently.